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Trump Gaggles with the Press on Air Force One, Oct. 12, 2025

October 12, 2025 · The White House · 0:24:45

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One on October 12, 2025, flying to Israel for the hostage release and peace signing. Asked what was harder — peace in the Middle East or ending the government shutdown — he answered: “Well, I think the hardest is this. This has been going on for 3,000 years. The shutdown’s only been for 10 days.”

On the shutdown itself, he said: “we’re taking care of it. We’ve got the military paid in full and we’re doing a lot of things. We’re ending some programs that we don’t want,” describing those programs, as he stated it, as Democrat programs.

Why it matters

The gaggle frames the trip in the President’s own terms before he landed: a 3,000-year conflict at the point of settlement, and a shutdown he presented as manageable while the military stayed paid. It is recorded on the Foreign Policy & Defense hub.

Scoreboard watch

Keeping the military paid in full during the shutdown, as stated by the President, is recorded here as a candidate item for the weekly scoreboard.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with the Press on Air Force One, Oct. 12, 2025,” The White House, October 12, 2025 (official upload, embedded above). All characterizations as stated by the President in the gaggle.